Teacher of the Week: Tammie Blackburn from Beulaville Elementary

WITN's Teacher of the Week for June 10 is Tammie Blackburn, a kindergarten teacher at Beulaville Elementary School in Duplin County.

Blackburn began her teaching career 27 years ago in Duplin County. She graduated from UNCW with a B.A. in Elementary Education and went on to receive her Master's degree there in Elementary Education.

She has spent the last 25 years of her career teaching kindergarten at Beulaville Elementary. She says she "loves kindergarten and hopes to stay right here until I retire!"

She currently lives in Beulaville with her husband, Michael, and twin sons, Austin and Josh, who recently graduated from UNC Chapel Hill.

When she's not in the classroom, she says she enjoys woodworking, scrap booking, working outside in the yard and garden, playing piano and spending time with her family.

The person who nominated Mrs. Blackburn wrote, "I would like to nominate Mrs. Tammie Blackburn, a kindergarten teacher at Beulaville Elementary, for Teacher of the Week.

During this extraordinary time when schools have closed and parents and students are learning how to adjust, she has gone out of her way to produce a morning meeting video for her students to keep them learning and maintain at least some sort of normal learning for the kids. Each video begins the same way she began classes during school, including her reading a story to the kids. She also includes a lesson that kids and parents can do at home and a reference to a YouTube video for sing-along time. She has done this while many schools are still trying to develop an online curriculum.

I don't know how many years she has been teaching kindergarten, but she was my stepson's kindergarten teacher - he's now a high school senior.

The level of care and concern she has for her kids is evident. I am so fortunate that our son was put in her class. She is truly a treasure and deserves the title Teacher of the Week."

Congratulations, Mrs. Blackburn!

Every week during the school year WITN will recognize a Teacher of the Week on WITN News at Sunrise. The winner receives a plaque and $100 gift card for school supplies.